152
Yearbook
Paulo, where their creature comforts were, perhaps, more, to go to dIstant places and gather together and help those of good-will who are seeking the way to the Kingdom . .Jehovah has greatly blessed their unselfish efforts, for where they have gone others are JOInIng in the field service and entering the pIOneer work, some among them beIng new ones, and others who, beIng alone, had cooled and grown weak. Small but actIve groups for study and for WItneSSIng have been formed in RecIfe, Manaos and Santos. .As a result of the pIOneer actIvity, the Kingdom witness IS now being actIvely carned on in 15 of the 23 states and terrItories of BrazIl Orgamzed compames have Increased from 12 in 1939 to 15 thIs year; not a large Increase in number of groups, but in all of them there IS a more active particIpatIOn in the Kingdom WItness work, a careful study of organIzatIOn mstructlOns in the Informant, use of the testimony card and phonographs, and more attentIOn paid to back-calls. Some real progress has been eVIdenced in all respects, especIally in the conduct of studies m hannony WIth the SOCIety's outline. The most notIceable progress has been that of the company m Sao Paulo. Until March of thIs year the company met in a hall furrushed them in the buildmg occupied by the branch office. This they outgrew and, after some effort, a silltable buildmg with an entire floor for the exclusive use of the company was located in the heart of the central business section of the city. The brethren themselves worked hard to make some necessary alterations, clean and paint and furnish with good chairs to be ready for the first meeting at the time of tlle Memorial, when a convention was held. ThIS Kmgdom Hall of the Sao Paulo company has been blessed of the Lord. The attendance at the study meetings averages between 60 and 70, after the departure of about 20 to gIve the Kingdom witness in other places where it had not yet been given; a number of .Jonadabs have been immersed and at least 10 of then number have entered the pIOneer serVIce. It is a real inspiratIOn to attend the sel VIce and study meetmgs and see theIr JOY. In addItion to the compames, there are scattered throughout the land Isolated brethren, most of them farmers, who are giving the WItness as best they can. They receIve monthly the Informant, The Watchtower and ConsolatIOn, either in Portuguese or, in the few cases in whIch they do not readily understand Portugues!', m their native language. Their reports sent in each month show that they, too, as part of the Olganization, ale domg their best to keep hIgh the standard of The Theocracy. Their physical burdens mcrease as taxes mount hIgher and restllctions are placed on what they mayor may not plant, but their joy increases as they realIze the nearness of the tIme when The Theocracy shall fully functIon, adJustmg all things for the benefit of the humble, honest dwellers of earth who are obedient to the laws of the great Theocrat.